This would mean he has been responsible for the production of six seasons of the show; a total of over 80 episodes if current rates are maintained.

While certain corners of the web have been rather vocally suggesting it is time for a change at the top, we decided to look at the many positive reasons for keeping Mr Moffat precisely where he is.

Versatility

Although he’s often focused on the grand design – opening and closing a season on an epic scale with events like rebooting the universe or re-writing the Doctor’s personal timeline – ‘Listen’ proved that Mr Moffat has lost none of abilities in terms of fear factor.

While the Eleventh Doctor’s era introduced the reassuring Victorian allies of the Paternoster Gang, the Twelfth looks set to spend more time in the present with Kate Stewart and a revitalised UNIT.

International success

While RTD restored Doctor Who to a grateful nation, it is fair to say that under his successor the show has truly been embraced by the world. Doctor Who is now a global hit and the 50th Anniversary was a real international television event that would have failed utterly if the script had been too inward looking and overly nostalgic.

Format

Doctor Who has always embraced change. From 2005 until David Tennant’s departure, each new season came with a fresh face in the main cast.

While more stable in that department, Moffat’s tenure has brought frequent shake-ups to the show’s format. Season 5 essentially kept to the established structure of one and two-parters, but Season 6 embraced a full-length, densely plotted arc with a game-changing cliffhanger in the middle as we followed the tale of River Song.

Writers

In terms of writing talent, Moffat is doing plenty to bring in fresh voices to complement the core team. Neil Cross (Luther) made two contributions to Season 7, while Peter Harness (Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell) and Jamie Mathieson (Being Human) both made their debut in Season 8 and are back for more this year, along with Torchwood‘s Catherine Tregenna and another Being Human writer, Sarah Dollard.

There have also been memorable contributions from Moffat’s comedy connections with Richard Curtis and Simon Nye (Men Behaving Badly) writing for Season 5, as well as the coup of bringing Neil Gaiman to the fold.

A huge resounding YES for all of the reasons you mention. Moffat continues to be inventive, provocative, clever and unpredictable. He can still write future classics like Listen, Dark Water and Last Christmas, so his creativity is undiminished as is love for the show. He has carefully stewarded the show through its fifthieth anniversary, solved the loose ends left by RTD in terms of regenerations and reined over the most critically acclaimed year of Who as well as established its current global popularity. With Capaldi completing a magnificent debut season, the show really has never been in better hands and after the lacklustre RTD years and a few Moffat-y wobbles in season 7B, we are certainly in a new golden age of Who. He and more importantly, Capaldi, should stay for as long as the show remains fresh, exciting and popular. Season 9 is already shaping up as the best one yet.

Benny

Agree completely. Moffat was able to make lemonade from some of the lemons RTD left behind. Creating the War Doctor in particular was genius and it gave us John Hurt – John bleedin’ Hurt as a bonafide doctor.

Edu Osieta

And we are talking about the same lacklustre, award-winning years that spawned two spinoffs and produced Blink, Family of Blood, Girl in the Fireplace, School Reunion, the Slitheen, Empty Child, Midnight, Unquiet Dead, Tooth and Claw? Lacklustre is not an accurate description of Ecclestone and Tennant eras. I rewatched these last week and, in comparison, Listen is a randomly disjointed mess.

Are we talking about the same lacklustre RTD from whom Moffat inherited a very solid platform? Whatever spite-inducing drink you are having is clouding your
judgement if you think Moffat didn’t take over a show that was already
in rude health. What’s killing me is the irony of seeing “people to stay for as long as the show remains fresh, exciting and popular” mooted as desirable practise in a show that owes its longevity and success to frequent change.

Every few years the show gets a refreshing mini-reboot via the main characters and it can only be healthy to change showrunners because if they stay too long there is a danger of the show stagnating on certain themes/tropes.

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

It is a bit funny that three of those shows were written by Moffat….

LM

Moffat was good as a writer, under direction. Left to himself he’s completely undisciplined.

Hosfac

Personally, I think the key to enjoying any show is managing your expectations. I try not to have any…or at least as few as possible. It makes it easier to judge the individual episodes on their own merits, instead of framing them in contexts like “That episode wasn’t as good as Waters of Mars” or “I don’t like Capaldi as much as I liked Tennant.”

The fact of the matter is that Capaldi is a great Doctor in his own right, but scripts like Matt Smith used to get won’t work for him. He’s got a completely different style, and he would come into it if people would just shut up and let him.

Benny

Amen. Bored of the usual anti-Moffat and anti-Capaldi brigade. David Tennant is not coming back, Matt Smith has left. Peter Capaldi is bringing a completely new and unique take on the role. Frankly we should consider ourselves lucky that an actor of his calibre who could walk onto any production chose our little old show as his dream role. It’s obvious both Moffat and Capaldi adore the show. Why would they ever do anything other than try to make it as good as they can? It’s in great hands, so let’s let them get on with it. I think it’s great we have this commitment and stability in the showrunnervand lead.

Joe Cogan

I love Capaldi, but the last half of Season 7, and almost all of season 8 were pretty weak story-wise IMO, and that’s Moffat’s fault: the buck stops with him as showrunner, regardless of who the scriptwriter is for the episode.

Brad Filippone

Time Lords’ gender-swapping capabilities have NOT been settled actually, since the Master has stolen bodies in the past and may well have stolen this one. This is, of course, assuming that Missy was telling the truth about her identity (although to be fair, the Doctor didn’t seem to question her on this point).

huntermagnus999

For me that issue is very much settled: the time lords can gender swap. Fact: the corsair did this, often. Fact: the Master has done so. Until we learn otherwise I must assume Missy is the Master. But: just because Time Lords can doesn’t mean the Doctor would or should. I’m sure he could regenerate to be Silurian but I doubt that’s coming. Just my opinion of course.

Brad Filippone

The Doctor’s reference to the Corsair was about as vague as it could possibly be, actually, and his statement was never clarified. The Corsair may have been, for example, a cross-dresser. Think of how Dame Edna is usually referred to as a “she” even though we know she is a “he.”
On the other hand, there is a confirmed case, at least for those who consider the novels to be canon. There is a Time Lord named I. M. Foreman in the two-part novel “Interference” who was usually male, but had some incarnations as female.
In any case, natural gender-switching must be incredibly rare. All but one of the Doctor’s regenerations (the exception being Second to Third) have been random, and have always kept him the same sex. It is an incredible coincidence if this was pure chance.
At this stage, we do not know the circumstances of the Master’s most recent regeneration. We do know that on two known occasions, Those being The Keeper of Traken and the TV Movie, he stole bodies from other people who happened to be there. I find it safer to assume that a woman happened to be the only person nearby when he needed a new body.
That being said, I think Moffatt keeps giving us these hints–such as the Corsair, as you mention–and the Eleventh Doctor’s post-regenerative momentary belief that he was female–and now Missy–in order to tease those people in the audience who like the idea that the next Doctor will be a woman. I am not completely opposed to the idea. I am only opposed to having such a regeneration occur naturally, because I don’t believe that’s really possible until established continuity. Sure, Doctor Who continuity has been contradicted before, but not on so large and important a point. I could see a sort of scenario in which it could happen, however. Suppose that the Doctor is in danger of dying–permanently, that is, with no chance of regeneration–and a Companion, without his consent (I doubt he would ever consent to such a thing) offers up her body to save him. The Doctor then wakes up inhabiting the Companion’s body, with the Companion presumably now dead. That type of scenario I could accept.

Bob Redmund Bro

It’s been downright confirmed that they can change gender, and it’s honestly a bit annoying to see people think of any excuse to not believe it

Dr. Moo

The Big Finish audio story Unbound:Exile features an alternate Doctor that is female. It is stated in the story that to change gender a Time Lord must have their previous incarnation commit suicide. Whether or not we accept that statement is of course wide open and subject to debate.

Personally I’m against having a female Doctor.

Brad Filippone

That’s certainly an interesting take on the matter. I do consider the audios canon. But what type of suicide are they referring to? It could be argued that the Fifth Doctor committed suicide in order to save Peri, for example. And it also opens the question of how can you commit suicide when you know you’re going to regenerate anyway (unless you’re in your final incarnation, of course).
There is, as I already pointed out, the “Interference” novels which feature a Time Lord who could apparently change genders naturally. I don’t think s/he committed suicide though (It’s been a long time since I read them). At this stage, as I said, there’s still no definite confirmation of NATURAL gender change among Time Lords, but Moffat has hinted at it enough, so maybe it will come this season.
I agree with you about being against having a female Doctor.

Dr. Moo

The thing is that it’s looking likely now, especially after Missy. Can I wildly speculate that it will be the 14th Doctor that will do it first? That is, Capaldi will hand over to a man but the man in question won’t. That’s my prediction, and it’s not one I’m particularly happy about either!

Joe Cogan

Two observations: Clara needs to move out of the foreground (preferably off the show), and a lot of the writing has been really substandard since at least the middle of season seven.

Bob Redmund Bro

While I personally love Clara to death, I agree she should be put away from the spotlight. It’s capaldi’s time to shine

Shockwave527

I think she’s a great companion, but I loved how her story ended before the christmas break and was saddened when I found out she was coming back. I think it’s time to see some Capaldi on his own and a new companion. I think their relationship became really played out this past season and want to see something new with Capaldi.

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

Agreed. i like Clara. But it is time for a new companion.

Lemmy Koopa

Can you expound on how the writing of season 9 has been substandard. I mean, Sleep No More was iffy and I had my disappointments with Hell Bent (but not as much from a story structure standpoint and more of Time Lord realization), but other than that, that was the best television Doctor Who writing since Hinchcliffe era.

Joe Cogan

My comment was written before Season 9. The writing has drastically improved over Season 8.

huntermagnus999

I am definitely pleased Moffat is staying. I have lover his tenure on the show. My only regret is the way Clara suddenly changed from excited and interesting, keen to adventure, to dull and closed minded after that regeneration. A companion pressuring the Doctor to just visit and chat, really? I can’t wait to see what Moffat dones with series eight, despite my feelings on Clara.

Bob Redmund Bro

I thought she was rather dull in series 7 personally. I loved her in series 8, though I respect your opinion

matt_david_and_the_fez

Although I enjoy Moffat’s era, he really needs to shake things up (in the good direction). There is too much focus on Clara and very little on the Doctor. Change that 🙂

Dr. Moo

Moffat staying is excellent news and I cannot express how pleasing this is. So far ahead of Davies in both creativity and quality. He got rid of the sappy twilightiness that had seeped into things under Davies’s watch with 10&Rose which can only be good, especially now we have an older Doctor again. The man’s a genius and you need only look at his story arcs (River, Silence, Trenzalore, Pandorica, Missy) to see proof of this. I love what he’s done with the show and hope that he continues as long as he possibly can. He’s staying around for series ten and I couldn’t be happier.

Benny

Completely agree. Moffat has improved the show out of sight since he took over. It’s clear that there is daylight between RTD and Moffat in terms of the quality of the writing and story arcs but it’s the other improvements Moffat has made which I think are fundamentally more important but probably not as visible. This includes bringing writers into the fold who are outside the Who-niverse (eg Richard Curtis, Neil Gaiman, Neil Cross), putting effort and thought into gaining a stronger foothold in the US (with the result that under his watch, Who has become massively more popular), more exciting and visually interesting location shoots, high quality support cast right down to the extras (the casting under Moffat has been immaculate. Gone are the days from RTD’s era when you could spot the extra goofing off in the background), Murray Gold has produced his greatest work under Moffat, better SFX, better editing, better promotional material and possibly his greatest stroke was casting Smith and then Capaldi.
There are too many Moffat bashers who won’t acknowledge what is plain as can be – he has made the show better. And bear in mind this is also the man who produces and writes for Sherlock in any spare time he has. To have showrun two of the biggest television shows in the UK (and cultural phenomena) on British television in the last decade is reason enough to applaud him. As long as he continues to produce the quality of material and retain his passion for the show, I am more than happy to have his lead us into series 10 and beyond.

larry

not agreeing with better editing and scores.

Cardboard Tube Knight

It makes me really happy to hear other people saying the same thing that I’ve been trying to for years.

Gretel90

Great comment. There is so much Moffat bashing going on from the usual suspects (no – David Tennant is not coming back, it doesn’t work that way and if you are only watching for him, you’re not a genuine fan anyway) that it is refreshing to see what is the view of the silent majority being aired. Any objective comparison between Davies’ and Moffat’s tenures can only conclude that he has improved the show immeasurably during his time as show-runner. Good to see some sensible comment and appreciation for a change, rather than the same old anti-Moff nonsense so-called fans sprout. The ratings continue to be fantastic, critics adore the new look series 8 and really hard to see how the show can be better than it is now. To keep a 50 year old show so fresh and exciting isn’t an easy task. *stands up and applauds*. Don’t usually de-lurk to comment but great post and so very very true.

Benny

My favourite of all the sensible stuff said on this thread. More people watch now than ever before, so I think that is the only thing which needs to be said to sink all of the counter arguments about Steven Moffat’s so-called ‘failure. While I understand people get frustrated about the hate directed at Steven Moffat and the uncritical love fest we had under Davies (whose time saw *fewer* people watching both here and overseas I need to add), no need to deconstruct the faults in Davies’ time’ to praise Moffat’s.
The facts are that (a) show remains hugely popular and critically acclaimed here and worldwide (b) the growth in viewership falls completely under Moffat’s time as showrunner.
Why wouldn’t the BBC beg Moffat to stay? BBC are happy that the brand continues to enjoy unprecedented global growth and the overwhelming majority of viewers are happy with the current arrangements.

McJohnson

[insert un-backed up hate comment here]

I’m pleased by this news. May the Moffat’s era last for a longer time than TBaker’s!

Ella

People hate him because he is a showrunner and he is there. After he leaves, some fans will just move on to hating the next guy. *shrugs*

Bob Redmund Bro

So true.

Charlieboy

People hate him because he doesn’t have a clue!

Dr. Moo

Doesn’t have a clue = Made the show a global phenomenon in a way nobody else could even come close to? Are you sure about that?

Charlieboy

Classic Who was already being shown in over 100 countries. With a better budget and some love from the BBC it would have lasted longer than 1989! Moffats story arcs are a mess. He can’t kill off characters. And he can’t write female character.

Dr. Moo

Companions falling in love with the Doctor, messy story arcs, companions with a social life, companions as the “main character”… sounds like the RTD era. He introduced those things so your complaints should be directed at him.

Charlieboy

Moffat continued them. My complaint is directed at him!

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

You didn’t listen, did you? You lot never do. That’s the problem.

Charlieboy

I think you are the problem!

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

I don’t recall that line in the episode………..

Henry V

Exactly. I find it funny that all of the things people whinge about in relation to Moffat are things which RTD did in spades and don’t even get me started on the sexism nonsense of which RTD is the much much bigger offender, but then Moffat haters don’t like facts clouding their vitriol. Moffat has made the show much much better. End of. Anyway, Moffat writes for smart people so between the Tennant fangirls and the Moffat haters, they probably aren’t able to actually understand the show anymore now that it’s not about the Hot Doctor making kissy kissy faces at the companion while she pouts prettily beside him.

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

Well put. I might add one more thing…. I actually would find it odd if the companions didn’t develop some level of crush or attraction for the Doctor. He is brilliant, funny, heroic, mysterious, and yet still needs to be taken care of at times. He takes you to places you probably couldn’t even imagine. Much odder if they didn’t. That said, none of the companions during Moffat’s era fell in love with the Doctor. That was a RTD thing.

Margarethe

Very true and in trying to be even-handed, quite often people seem afraid to call out RTD for things which they would with Steven Moffat. The entire Rose love story arc just feels out of place and awkward. Rose is an impressionable teenage girl so it is not surprising that she has a teenage crush on firstly 9 then 10. It’s quite creepy that RTD wrote this as reciprocated. Why would an ancient alien find love with an unsophisticated shop girl? Never made sense then, never did and they way it was played, just couldn’t buy it as Billie Piper and David Tennant really don’t seem to be more than good mates. River and 11 is of course another matter but then she is a Time Lord too. Makes more sense and the age gap is not so icky and Alex Kingston and Matt Smith really do sell the mutual attraction. Fortunately, Steven Moffat has killed off the love doctor thing once and for all.

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

I have to believe this line from The Name of the Doctor was really Moffat speaking to those who say there are too many plot holes… You didn’t listen, did you? You lot never do. That’s the problem.

Bob Redmund Bro

I agree with every single thing on the list. I’m overjoyed that he’s staying

Chris Shorney

It’s difficult, plain & simple. All the points mentioned are very good points but hasn’t always transferred to overall effectiveness. Doesn’t matter who runs the show, yes there are going to be poor episodes & people who hate this / that & the other. (Apart from maybe “Black Spot” ;), loved / loathed in equal measure!) Running Doctor Who has got to be THE hardest job going & pleasing everyone is impossible & reading articles like this sums up how much these guys bring to Dr Who. (Even JNT from the classic days.)

Charlieboy

Moffat is tired, and should leave. He recycles his own ideas every series. He visits River as a child, Amy as a child, Danny as a child, and Clara as a child. His story arcs are a mess, and a joke. As always, his companion is becoming the story, when the companion should help the story move along.

MurrayFutterman

I fail to see how visiting characters at different points in their lives is in any way a bad thing, especially in a show based around time travel.

Charlieboy

Its repetitive and boring! Its also lazy writing.

MurrayFutterman

It’s repetitive and boring to you because you don’t like it. That doesn’t make it lazy writing, not at all. It’s a perfectly legitimate approach.
It sounds like you just prefer linear storytelling, which theapproach that is used for the majority of fiction so we are used to and comfortable with it. But a show that uses time travel as one of it’s major conceits is the perfect venue to mix in some non-linear storytelling. I’m amazed it’s taken this long for someone to actually try to fully grab hold of the opportunity that Doctor Who offers to exploit this.

Charlieboy

Have you seen The Space Museum?

MurrayFutterman

Yes, I’ve also seen Day Of The Daleks. These are exceptions that scratched the surface of the possibilities, but the majority of the original series writers just weren’t thinking fourth dimensionally (to paraphrase Doc Brown.)

Charlieboy

But, its the only think Moffat does. Hes a one trick pony!

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

IMHO people who say this just aren’t paying attention. When you watch Doctor Who you do need to close the laptop, put down the phone and watch.

Edu Osieta

For a start, in a show with time travel as the premise, it is a bit insulting to the forerunners when you pointedly ignore their existence.

The worst thing Moffat did was have the Doctor go back to Coal Hill – where it all started – and not once bother explain the whereabouts of the Doctor’s very first human companion, who is apparently still affiliated with the school!! Moffat supposedly said that he can only bring back past characters if they were popular and were totally necessary for the story…all that and yet no Ian at Coal Hill.

What we got instead was a dimwitted nonrelatable, jealous and spiteful maths teacher who ended up somersaulting and flying around, more like a PE teacher. Danny Pink was nothing more than a token man-bimbo, a spineless and uninteresting MIcky.

In this day and age of technology, how many young and supposedly intelligent people would pass up the chance to go into space to sit at home and have a cuppa? I don’t know how many people can relate to that because I am not one of them.

I am with Charlieboy here in that Moffat needs to leave while things are still good. In a show that is predicated upon change , it is ironically ridiculous for him to stay on for such a protracted period.

There’s a real danger of the show losing its appeal with the repetitive themes like how love saves the day, the companion always becoming the most important person in the universe or dragging out intricate story arcs well past the season finale.

I hope the BBC and Moffat realise that Doctor Who is bigger than one person.

MurrayFutterman

They tried to get William Russell back for a cameo in The Day Of The Doctor, but he had to pull out due to illness. Unlike fans who can sit at home and dream up how much better the show would be if only they were running things, Moffat has to deal with the realities of budget, schedule, actor availability, audience demographics, etc.

Edu Osieta

From your response, I feel safe in the assumption that you don’t
understand or care for the significance of Ian, especially in the
setting of Coal Hill. I guess we wait till he dies, dress up another
actor in a Cyberman suit and get “teary.”

It may come as a shock to you to learn that Moffat’s precious budgets, scheduling, demgrahic stats etc. are informed by and predicated on that same fan who sits at home with his/her own set of realities, watching Moffat’s unrealities!!! If the fans are not braindead, they might notice and share with others some aspect of the show that caught their attention.

What caught mine in “The Caretaker” was that an obvious opportunity was wasted to pay homage to the first ever companion, all at the expense of cheap gags like a man denying being a PE teacher and ending up looking like one. It was an excellent episode but for the one glaringly unanswered question of Ian’s doings and whereabouts. Was William Russell unwell for this one too?

For me, I would like to see a few more classic companions back in the TARDIS, especially Ian, Susan and Jamie, so you can stuff Moffat’s realities it’s his unrealities that are in question.

Benny

Great to see this thread bumped and enjoying re-visiting these comments. With so much venom spat at Moffat by the media and internet forums from the moment he took over to the current day, it is good to be reminded that the sensible, silent majority have mostly applauded Moffat’s work as showrunner and continue to agree that Who has never been in better hands than with Steven Moffat. Since this article was last posted, we have had the clinching evidence in the series 9 trailer and the fantastic Comicon interviews that Moffat is at the peak of his powers. As long as Moffat remains as fresh and creative as he showed us last year ( and series 9 is looking to potentially be the greatest in the history of the show), long may he reign and BTW a knighthood probably not out of the realm of possibility by the time he leaves.

kabphillie

While I do believe that Moffat can get a little to clever and intricate for his own (and our own) good, I adore most of the stories that he has written, and one cannot ignore how popular Doctor Who has become world wide.

Of course, I can go back and compare Moffat to show runners from the old series and when you make that comparison, I think Moffat stands out amongst the best. Do the people that dislike Moffat want to bring back the likes of someone of the quality of Jonathan Nathan-Turner?

Andrew Berry

Bring back RTD for god sake!!

Henry V

Oh c’mon. The facts speak for themselves – the show has had the greatest number of UK viewers under Moffat when all forms of viewing are taken into account and series 8 is the most watched since the show returned; viewership overseas has massively increased ONLY since Moffat took over – series 8 was the most watched series of Who in the US, Canada, NZ and Australia ever; the 50th anniversary celebrations were acclaimed as the most successful event celebrating Who, downloads, sales of DVDs etc are at an all time peak, under Moffat, spin off merchandise, including comics, audio material etc is at its highest etc; the show has won many more awards and been nominated more often since Moffat took over, including an unprecedented run of nominations for writing in particular.
No one except some poor deluded Tennant fangirls who don’t even watch the show anymore are crying out for RTD to return. He had his time. We should be thankful for him keeping it on the air but only the most deluded of people could argue that the quality of the acting, writing and production since Moffat took over have improved by a massive degree from under RTD’s reign. Sorry, mate, you are just wrong, wrong, wrong.
If it wasn’t for Moffat, the show would be off the air by now. It was already sliding into embarrassment when we had to endure the last whiny moments of the massively over-rated Tennant drowning in the bombast of his own and RTD’s massive egos. Another year of similar cr@p would have definitely been the end of it.

Doctor Moo

He’s moved on. Why can’t you?

Andrew Berry

I’m aloud to express my opinions sorry if you don’t like them. Move along now

Andrew Berry

We have a great doctor and he is being wasted with such bad story lines it makes me sad. imo

Henry V

I will agree that Capaldi is excellent and continues from the fantastic Matt. Guess who is responsible for casting the two best actors to ever play the role in the last 52 years? Oh wait, that would be Steven Moffat.

Andrew Berry

Not sure if the casting of the Doctor has anything to do with some of the the terrible story lines. sorry if I upset you.

Shawn William Rourke

yes please!

JBL

He’s become a farce, a lazy writer who knows he can get away with it. And he knew he COULDN’T get away with it in the 50th Anniversary Special, so he actually put some work into it and proved he CAN write good Who if he has to. He just doesn’t. Listen was easily my least favorite episode of Season 8, 45 minutes of the Doctor running from his own shadow. Missy (what is this inane dedication to ridiculous nicknames? Rusty, Handles, Missy…) was a joke, a grotesque misuse of a great actress, and another reduction (hello, Great Intelligence) of a classic Who villain to a Lost in Space cornball baddie. If he would run the show and leave the writing to others, the results would be far more palatable; the best episodes of S8 were written by Jamie Mathieson, and they were better than anything with Moffat’s name on it.

Henry V

You do know that Moffat script edits everything and in fact he co-wrote or reworked most episodes last year by other writers? I would hazard a guess that a lot of things you are praising in other writers’ works is actually Moffat.
Moffat has always done this but taking a leaf out of RTD’s book, he is finally putting up his hand to take credit. RTD massively rewrote a lot, if not most of the scripts by other writers during his time as showrunner (and caused a lot of bad blood, such that some writers swore off writing again for Who, although Moffat’s more collegiate approach seems to be wining them back). the *only* writer RTD never had to touch a word on was of course Mr Moffat. I wonder if Moffat sits backs sometimes and laughs when people start praising parts of scripts without his name on them which he actually wrote, particularly when they use it to flog him.

MurrayFutterman

Exactly. Jamie Mathieson has publicly discussed how Moffat helped him with his scripts, quickly making suggestions that solved problems he’d been having etc. And of course the Mummy episode was basically a Moffat idea that Mathieson was commissioned to write. So it really is quite funny to see those episodes being held up by haters as examples of how Moffat should be doing Doctor Who. The fact is, once people become haters they are looking for things to reinforce their hate rather than being objective.
I also thinking calling the writing “lazy” just because you don’t happen to like it is a particularly, well, lazy criticism that get’s trotted out with such ridiculous regularity on the internet (and I’m not just talking about in regards to Who here, but all strains of film, TV, video games etc) that it’s become meaningless and impossible to take seriously.

Benny

Once you arrive at a set opinion, you do look for patterns in things which don’t exist as the doctor himself would say!
I do hope one day we get a similar book from Steven Moffat as Russell Davies wrote about the experience of being a writer and showrunner. Davies’ book, “The Writers’ Tale” is fascinating. although I would warn those approaching it to not let his rather large ego, his sexism and his endless self-obsession put you off. It also gives a great insight into how the show, particularly in series 2 to 4, ended up in the slightly half-cooked mess it did. It’s also useful to understand how much he re-wrote other contributors’ pieces (and by this I mean completely rewrote to such an extent that the end product had pretty well nothing of the original hand behind it) except Moffat’s. When you read Davies’ book, you realise that he really does sweat a lot of stuff which ends up looking tepid and lazily written on the screen. Davies didn’t set out to write poorly or to make the show below the best it could be. Each show runner and writer is seeking to bring their vision to what we see on screen and make it the very best they can. Not everyone can do this successfully or have the kind of vision which chimes with the wider public in the first place.
I found Davies’ vision for the show largely failed as it was too timid and did not use the great potential for travelling in time and space which it should have done once the bones in the first series were established. (and it would be a fair observation I think that the public’s view is that they prefer Moffat’s time overall to Davies’ for these very reasons) but I would never assert that he didn’t try his best. Ultimately, you can only work with the building blocks you have. Fortunately for the longer-term health of the show, in Moffat we have someone who seems to have the best instincts, the willingness to push the show into new directions and to work collegiately and in Matt and then Peter, the best actors any show runner could ever wish to have.

Doccus

You know what? I’m old. Probably older than most of you, and older than most everybody on the show, these days. I remember the very first episode. Not of this series . Rather, of the ENTIRE series. On CBC, actually.. Personally, I still would rather see Tom Baker. Even so, I haven’t seen one BAD job by RTD, or Steven Moffat, either. I still watch it. MAy as well, after all, seeing I’m now in it for the long haul. Are there things I wish they’d done differently? Well, sure.. but do I think they have done well by themselves, at this point?
Absolutely.
Why fix what ain’t broke?

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

You are older than me. I was only three when the first episode aired. I wouldn’t have been able to watch it anyway, I live in America. But I did start watching the Second Doctor with my Dad. I loved the old show. I love the new show. What would be the point of making the show the way they did in the 70’s. Some of the choices they made then were based on budget and other limitations. I suspect it would have been much harder to make any drastic changes during the first run. Bring the show back years later and you have opportunity. I think they have used those opportunities to make it a great show again!!!

Doccus

Actually, you probably could have , it being on CBC.. I’m pretty sure that CBC was available in the states back in the old rabbit ear days.. In any casethey didn’t air it for long. I think it was some special kind of broadcast, maybe due to the fact that it was a combiined UK-Canadian production iin the beginning. It didn’t get aired again here until te early 70s, after which it got dropped AGAIN, and from that point it was never again shown in Canada, only being shown on, mostly, PBS, in the states. Until we had what was initially called “pay TV” wityh set top boxes, that was it unless somebody had a VHS copy laying around.
There’s a whole lot of episodes I never got to watch for well over 30 years, until the internetbecame established. “sigh”….

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

That was put very well.

JBL

His name is on MUMMY as co-writer, and Mathieson gave him credit for certain ideas in an interview. No, it’s not the scripts he rewrites that are the problem, it’s the ones he writes all on his lonesome.

Overlord Th’arkhen

Whilst I’m not too keen on Moffat as showrunner, he has done a good job at making Doctor Who internationally successful, and I cant but help think that if he were replaced, we might end up with someone worse.

Regardless of who is showrunner, regardless of Doctor, I’ll keep watching, as long as I enjoy it.

Edu Osieta

While it may seem interesting the circuitous anithetical debate of “Doctor Who has always embraced change” and “lets keep him on for as long as he wants” seems self-defeating. Cultish heroes like the Doctor and James Bond have survived this long due to a rare entertainment quirk that makes change more of a prerequisite for their continued success.

Patrick Troughton was the first to set the precedent of not over-staying
in one role because he didn’t want to be typecast. It is a valid reason
and there’s no reason why it can’t apply to the showrunners with the
reason that over-extending their stay might lead to thematic
predictability and staleness in the show..

For a show like Who, it’s unhealthy to think that just because it is thriving then creative control should be left to the same person because there is nothing wrong.

No offence to Moffat but he needs to (re)watch Stargate SG1 to get an idea of how to do sci-fi without getting derailed by grand theatrical or fairy tale tropes.

James Sutton

I like Moffat, but I wish Clara would go. She really irritates me and I think the 12 Doctor deserves to have a decent companion of his own. Her boyfriend, Danny Pink, was a real disappointment. I had hoped they would have done more with him. Especially his struggles with PTSD. but that would have meant treating him like a real person and not just a prop for Clara.

Lina OD

I think he has to go before it’s too late. Almost everything i loved in doctor who isn’t there anymore. He’s destroying the whole magic. shame on you if you think the opposite of it…

Cheryl Croman

Steven Moffat has given Doctor Who a real shot in the arm ( along with RTD) and I am delighted that he is doing another season. Doctor Who has if I am correct been sign up with the BBC until at least 2020. I hope Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman continue delighting us with their roles of The Doctor and Clara for as long they enjoy it!!!

Debbi Morrow-Carlson

Fantastic news! He is a clever writer who knows and loves his Doctor Who. Yes, you need to pay attention when you watch Doctor Who. Those that complain of plot holes are not paying attention. “You didn’t listen, did you? You lot never do. That’s the problem. ” He also manages to keep the show new and fresh without forgetting its roots. This is the best news!!

Margarethe

Absolutely. Too many of the moaners about complexity are twittering away during the episode, trying to find so-called plot holes, rather than pay attention. Steven Moffat said he writes for intelligent children. Children adored Smith and Gillan and Darvill and were easily able to follow the plot lines even in series 6 because they actually concentrate and find the joy in the show and don’t spend their whole time looking for fault and picking away at things. Children aren’t uncritical either and will say when they don’t like things or don’t understand. And sometimes what appears to be a plot hole at the time ends up being picked up later down the track. Moffat is very very careful about his continuity which makes it fun to watch because you know that there is no such thing as a throwaway plot point under his watch!
One of the truly great things about modern Who and probably more so under Moffat is that it has retained its family audience. Moffat writes for families and doesn’t just pitch to tweens (as happened during David Tennant’s time) and more importantly links what he does to the whole history of the show. I do worry about who could ever replace Moffat who is now at the very height of his powers but we have him for at least another couple of years, so am looking forward to the wonders he and Peter Capaldi will give us.

Ste

Why does everyone think this guy is so good?, I mean really!
The storylines NEVER have a climax and far too complex for even adults to understand let alone kids.
The guy cops out on every major thing he does, example being the doctor is killed while regenerating and we see the CIA guys say “that most certainly is the doctor” and then we find out its a robot….ridiculous!

Jackie Brown

I haven’t enjoyed his writing recently – but I’m an old SF fan so nothing has been all that surprising or baffling but rather obvious and annoying. However, I appreciate I am in a minority and as I love Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and want the show to run and run then, of course, the man responsible for its success should stay put.

And I was so excited to see Clara go. Moffat has written some great episodes. Most while someone else was show runner. The eighth season was so bad that I had to rewatch Delta and the Bannermen and Meglos just to cleanse my pallet after each episode.

I would have liked Moffat to go with Clara.

vegastearoom

But his rag and rubber monster of the weak have been the WORST of Nu-Who.

peeet

“tenth season” – is that overall or just the new Doctor Who? 10 “series” doesn’t sound nearly enough overall. I don’t watch Doctor Who though, but when I was a kid in the 80’s I really liked the music during the end credits. Much better than the newer versions.

Twilite Folf

As long as it focuses more on the Doctor and less special snowflake companions, I have no complaints

LM

Nooooo.
Moffat has been a disaster. While he created excellent one off stories, as a show runner he’s been awful, nothing more than mediocre fan fiction. You know every season will end with bringing all the enemies together for no comprehensible reason and the Doctor triumphing by… SHOUTING AT THEM.
The Doctor is not the main character under Moffat, his Mary Sue’s are, with Clara being the worst of them. He can’t do epic stories like RTD could. Alex Kingston carried the show as River for a season, but again, the Doctor was a secondary character. While I like Capaldi as an actor, the character he’s been given to play is as bad as the dark days of Colin Baker. Smith was just a caricature, just unwatchable half the time.
Can anyone name a christmas special under Moffat that hasn’t been downright bad?
Please, make him go away.